- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
Burning question: what can we expect in a 1.5C world?
Massive wildfires exposing millions to toxic smoke, drought shrivelling crops and key waterways, destructive storms supercharged by record ocean temperatures -- in the last year the world has had a taste of what to expect with warming of 1.5C.
For the first time on record, Earth has endured 12 consecutive months of temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial era, Europe's climate monitor said Thursday.
That does not signal a breach of the more ambitious limit agreed by countries in the 2015 Paris Agreement -- because that is measured as an average over two decades.
Temperatures since the middle of last year have been ramped up by the naturally-occurring El Nino warming event, which is likely to recede in the coming months.
But underlying planetary heating has cranked up the global thermometer, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels as well as deforestation and agriculture.
"Although this news does not mean the Paris limit is exceeded, it is undeniably bad news," said Joeri Rogelj, director of research at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London.
"Unless global emissions are urgently brought down to zero, the world will soon fly past the safety limits set out in the Paris climate agreement."
- Limits of endurance -
That 1.5C milestone is no longer in the distant future, with the UN's IPCC climate science panel warning that a breach is likely sometime between 2030 and 2035.
What would a 1.5C world mean for humans and the natural world they rely on to survive?
Scientists estimate current global temperatures are around 1.2C hotter overall than the pre-industrial benchmark, averaged across the period 1850 to 1900.
Severe climate impacts are already visible around the world and would be amplified once the 1.5C threshold is reached.
Some parts of the world, like the Arctic and high mountain areas, are warming far faster than others.
In other regions, even small temperature increases can expose vulnerable communities to dangerous threats, including heat that tests the very limit of human endurance.
Coral reefs -- ecosystems that provide habitat for an immense array of marine life and protect coastlines -- are projected to decline 70 to 90 percent in a world that has warmed 1.5C.
The loss of biodiversity globally will be among the most pronounced impacts of a 1.5C warmer climate, according to the IPCC.
- Over the line -
Climate experts are also concerned that accelerating permafrost thaw will release carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, creating a vicious cycle of warming.
The IPCC currently classifies the risk of permafrost melt in some regions as "moderate", but it would become "high" in a 1.5C or even warmer climate.
Some impacts of warming are already irreversible, and will continue to worsen, like sea level rise, driven by melting ice sheets and glaciers.
Higher ocean levels are already threatening the future of low-lying islands, while in the longer term metres of sea level rise will likely swamp many of the world's major coastal cities.
Even if the 1.5C limit is breached, reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains crucial to stay "well below" 2C of warming, the maximum warming limit set by the Paris Agreement.
That is because "every increment of global warming will intensify multiple and concurrent hazards," the IPCC warns.
Halting deforestation and the rampant destruction of ecosystems are also crucial to maintain nature's ability to drawn down carbon from the atmosphere.
Oceans absorb 90 percent of the excess heat produced by the carbon pollution from human activity since the dawn of the industrial age.
A.Jones--AMWN